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People live in a numbed state when they do not think deeply. They literally live in a sub-dimension. They do not even see filth. And if they see it, it does not make them particularly uncomfortable. They feel no desire for a new, better life. They cannot know this. They live in a horrible environment. They think they should always live in it. They hear terrible words, for instance, but a way of escaping them never even occurs to them. They think they always have to live with them. Their horizons are narrow. They are on a bad path, but they stick to it. If they do something illicit they never give it up, as if they had an obligation to persist in it. They never even feel that wound. They just think superficially. Allah may sometimes wake people up with disease, troubles or afflictions. He may bring them to their senses in a very serious way. But good spiritual guides and teachers can also wake people up. And a good circle of friends can wake them up.

What was the first emotion felt by the brothers of the Prophet Joseph (pbuh)? The desire to kill. So the first thing that comes to the mind of the enemies of good people is to kill them, and then of injuring them. The mildest feeling is that of insulting them. They want to make themselves feel better by insulting them.

How many words of love are there on Facebook? And how many of hatred and blasphemy. Work the proportions out. When you compare the number of words of love and hatred, there will be nine hundred and ninety-nine words of hatred and blasphemy for every one word of love. Note how they talk to one another, across the world. There are terrible insults and put-downs. Either they are tired of living, or are thinking of killing themselves, or exhibit aggression or mockery or defamation. Even if they do use words of love, they tend to be formulaic ones, such as, “You are very good looking,” just for the sake of conversation. You will not see any sincere expressions of love. You see expressions like, “You are like a celebrity, spreading havoc wherever you go,” but there is not true love in that. For example, one says; “You are looking good,” and the other replies, “You are looking good, too, way to go, you are almost burning everywhere out.” But these are not sincere or genuine words. It is no good like that. This lack of genuine love causes people pain and trouble.

One must strive to make people good. One must strive for them to be good. It is not appropriate to return evil for evil. One must strive for them to be good. You cannot do it with hatred. Or with anger. I never feel anger towards those who do wrong. But if they leave me no other alternative, then of course I have to resort to legal measures.

(In reference to the hate-filled and angry language on the internet)

Why are love and affection not the main features on Twitter and Facebook? Our brothers should initiate such a trend. There is something really odd going on here. People should teach one another love, friendship, beauty and helping others. There is an unbelievably widespread hatred. Is there nobody loved at all? They must send one another expressions of love and friendship. They belong to different parties or hold different views, it does not matter. We are all children of this country. Everyone must love everyone else and treat them as friends and brothers.

Our brothers must behave on the basis of a profound love and brotherhood, and must use their free wills. They must respond kindly to all ugly words. There is a verse about that; “A good action and a bad action are not the same. Repel the bad with something better and, if there is enmity between you and someone else, he will be like a bosom friend.” (Surat al-Fussilat, 34). But if people refuse to amend their behavior despite all the warnings, then of course a person will have to defend himself by resorting to the law.

What we must strive against is the mutual hatred and anger arising in people. Hatred and anger have so enfolded the world that they are all fighting. They go to Afghanistan, for instance, and martyr people there. But that is not enough. Think of America - they cut the fingers off the people they martyr in Afghanistan and dry them and wear them as a necklace. Dried fingers are highly acceptable presents. They boast about it, asking, “How many have you got, and how many have I got?” Torturing people to death. Then if they get bored they take the Afghan people’s sheep, goats and animals into their encampments and beat them to death, laughing all the while. An unbelievable hatred and anger have enfolded the world. It is essential to oppose this by talking to people with patience and living by love, affection and compassion.

(On how to enter into the presence of a sheikh)

I am always amazed by people who enter into the presence of a sheikh by saying, “Selamun aleykum, I am here.” That is disrespectful and impolite. Many people come and go, and they are all served and costs are incurred. So you cannot approach things with a nonchalant mentality as if to say, “Who cares where it comes from?” One must respect the people there and behave in a good manner toward them. One must behave in such a way as to respond to what they will eat and drink there. Skeikh Nazım hodja is an immaculate person and has a lovely house. He has a garden. He is a most kind and noble individual, and one should never talk like that to him. One must be a mature, rational and deep-thinking person. So one must not go empty-handed to such places. They will give you things. And you must give things to them. That is the proper etiquette. When one goes to someone’s house for dinner one takes along a dish of some kind. That is just good manners. One cannot just turn up and say, “Selamun aleykum, it’s me.” “What do you want?” “I want to be married.” “I want to find a job.” That place is not an employment agency.

(“Is it not forbidden in the hadiths to look at someone who is not permissible to one?”)

If your mind is healthy you can look at people how you like. But if your mind is impure, you cannot look at your sister or your mother or anyone else. Because if your mind is unhealthy, you can even look lustfully at your mother, may Allah forbid, if your faith is weak, if you are unbalanced or if you attach no importance to what is lawful and unlawful; it all has to do with good intentions. If your faith is sound, have no fear. How did the Prophet Moses (pbuh) look at the daughters of the prophet? And how did they look at him? In a healthy manner on both sides.

(Mr. Adnan Oktar describes how one must always think the best of Allah)

Do you know what the greatest delight in this world is? Deep faith. . Someone starts expecting he will go to paradise, and paradise starts then. Paradise starts once you have deep faith. At that very moment. It begins right away. All your burdens are lifted. If one has deep faith, then by Allah’s leave one will go to paradise, if one is a believer, insha’Allah. That is what he hopes from Allah. He has surrendered himself to Him. “Do what You wish, O Lord, I submit to you,” he says. He is incredibly joyful. He seeks neither wealth nor anything else. Just to have deep faith and think the best and avoid distrust. “O Lord, keep me from distrust, from distrust in Your sight,” he will say. “Always permit me to love and think the best of You,” he says. But some people have faith in Allah, yet distrust Allah, may He forbid. A child dies, and they immediately doubt Him. And they pull themselves together by the next day. Something else happens and they doubt Him, but then pull themselves together. That is why one hadith says, “In the End Times, faith will be burning like flame.” “A man will take it in his hand, and it will burn his hand.” “But if he drops it, he will be without faith.” . Faith comes and goes. That is because of distrust, distrust of Allah. The important thing is unconditionally thinking the best of Allah. Unconditionally. One cannot approach Allah with logic. There is no logic in love of Allah. A person drowns in logic. One can only approach Allah with one’s mind and good conscience because we cannot know the wisdom behind what Allah does. Logic cannot unravel that wisdom. And distrust may ensue when one cannot unravel that wisdom. But everything is fine when you look through the eyes of faith. You must see with eyes that think the best, insha’Allah.

So in your opinion, all those people who have fun at weddings and festivals and generally have a good time are apostates. “How can a Muslim go around having a good time?” they say. Well, of course they can. You must be ignorant of the time of the Companions. You do not know about the time of the Messenger of Allah (saas). The Messenger of Allah (saas) took our mother, Hazrat Ayesha (r.a) and the companions danced with tambourines. There are hadiths about that.

(In response to a viewer who says, “Hazrat Hassan (r.a) had three hundred women. I thought that more than four is not permissible. Is that information wrong?”)

Three hundred women means freed concubines. Wives are different. One goes through a marriage ceremony with them. But one can have three hundred women, or three thousand. That is in Islam, insha’Allah. That is how it was at that time, insha’Allah.

(In response to an e-mail saying, “Our Prophet’s wives spoke behind a veil. For womens speech to be Sunnah, they must speak from behind a veil.”)

This is limited to the wives of the prophets. Allah deliberately differentiates them in a verse, saying, “You are not like any of the wives of the Muslims.” In other words, you cannot enjoy their freedom and liberty, says Allah. Because they are the wives of a prophet; they speak from behind a broad veil when speaking with the male companions, so that he who has disease in his heart may not desire you. This is unique to the wives of the prophet. Allah says it is different when it comes to the wives of Muslims. He says you cannot have their liberty, or way of speaking or lifestyle. You will be different. You are the mothers of the entire Ummah. None of you can ever marry them after the Prophet (saas). It is unlawful because they are now your mothers,” He says. They are the equivalent of mothers. That never even crossed the minds of the companions of the time. They regarded them as their mothers. But this applies to the wives of the prophet. Allah says that the wives of the prophet are not like anyone else. The wives of believers can speak and meet with people. They are different. They are all together on the hajj. And in war. But the wives of the prophet were carried in a special closed vehicle at that time. They made something like a tent, and the wives of the prophets were inside it. They could not speak with the people. But that was unique to them alone.